Game Busters
by 100-YardStare
Summary: In a world where programs and humans live among each other, there's only one team that can bring justice and stability. (A collective shitfuck of one-shots; post story spin-off to "The Real World")
1. Date Night

**"Date Night"**

**Summary: Shit hits the fan when Bill Cipher decides to trick Red into making a deal with him. Her desperate decision to take someone out on a date will turn into a night that nobody will soon forget.**

**Written: October, 2014**

* * *

There are those stories that you hear once and afterwards can never get off your mind. You know, the creepy shit. Something so ridiculous and far fetched while you listen to it yet after you take some time to step back and ponder over the clusterfuck your ears had the dishonor to listen to it's impossible to completely forget. This just so happens to be one of _those_.

Okay, yada yada the entire world has begun to rebuild itself after King Candy Freak broke from the arcade and allowed millions (nay billions) of Cy-bugs to ravage the real world. But time is able to heal all things, and it's been quite a few years since everything has gotten under control. Sometimes the humans will get the occasional Cy-bug that appears out of nowhere and reproduces but that's nothing the stationary beacons can't handle that have been spread globally. And hell if that doesn't work then folks have some programs roaming around with Hero's Duty guns, so it's not a biggie. Just got to keep everything organized and in line at all times like those humans are babysitting a bunch of crazy ass kids.

Anyway, onto what I'm trying to get at now. I'm sure you know of the First User, right? No? Maybe? Well either way, who the fuck cares this story isn't about her. At least directly. It's about someone way more awesome and classy than her but I'll get into that part later.

Throughout the years between sending the Cy-bugs back into virtual space and taking back earth, Kailey and friends had a lot of time to meet other Programs. One in particular is a little Animal Crossing: New Leaf gal named Red. Adorable as shit, but speaking honestly here, her back story is tragic as hell. Like, I know of Calhoun's back story with her fiance getting eaten and all, but Red was actually a human once.

Oh, shit you don't believe me do you? Well let me fill you in on that information. Apparently there was a group of people who were envious of Steven and Dannen's work, you know, the guys who were responsible for creating that laser beam thing that connects the real world to the digital world. This group, who I'll call "Organization Fucktard" since I honestly don't give a shit, tried copying Steven and Dannen's idea. All they were able to do however is replicate it. Horribly. Shit hit the fan. So the project was dumped. However, Organization Fucktard didn't give up. They started a project that created "Shell Programs" which are exactly what they sound like. No, not literal shells, like from the ocean, God no. Like program's only they have no souls. They are essentially barren and only able to move when a human host enters them.

Their first subject was a young woman, about the First User's age. They placed her in this New Leaf character shell named Red to control in the game world, but after they sent her in they couldn't get her back out in time. Her human body died but she was able to live and stay alive with her new program body. Kailey met Red at some point and befriended her.

I told you this was some creepy stuff, I warned you. But it gets worse. And now to my freaking point... this is where the story begins...

. . . . . . .

For a place in the south the chilly October air that would normally have settled in literally anywhere else other than this place was quite evident among the city. For once, instead of people walking around in shorts and T-shirts everyone was bundled up in cozy bitchin' sweaters. Leaves covered the ground aside from the roads in an array of oranges, reds and yellows. Good thing about rebuilding is that there wasn't a whole lot of usual public cars driving around yet, so there was that tranquil silence that accompanied the air that would have been nonexistent if there were traffic.

In one of the newer buildings, up on the 14th floor, Steven, Dannen and Kailey were sitting in another meeting. Since their courageous acts from a few years ago combined with their kick ass entrepreneurship that links video game worlds to the real world, they've started their own business, so to speak. But I'm not going into detail about that.

"You got that, Dannen? Be sure to be on site with our team around 8:00PM and investigate beacon #27 in Huntsville." I've had reports that it's been flickering so it's probably a spark in the energy source." Steven said as his eyes scanned through a series of documents, "If you can't figure out what the problem is on your own I'll send Felix out there to help."

"Yeah sure thing." Dannen responded, "Although I don't think that's necessary. Probably like you said, just a leak somewhere." Sitting up he nodded first before escorting himself out of the room. This left Steven and Kailey alone in the conference room, creating an awkward silence that was only disrupted when Steven shifted the stack of papers in his hands around.

"Did ya finish that report from yesterday about the new Programs you found?" Steven broke the silence, shifting his eyes from his documents and to Kailey who sat across from him.

"Yeah, I did." Kailey said, "Got another Sugar Rush racer that didn't go through the system before exiting their game. Normally I wouldn't mind but seeing as we've opened more portals so other arcade and game characters came come and go as they please it gets confusing once multiples of the same character get out without getting documented properly first."

"Eh, you can't blame them." Steven said, "They're just kids after all and just like us curiosity gets the better of them. I was considering placing a worker at each portal to make sure each character gets documented when they decide to visit the real world. That way we'll have them on our system immediately and not have to wait until one gets lost."

"I agree..." Kailey answered, "But why haven't we done this before?"

"It hasn't been a problem until we've set up more and more arcades and video game systems to the public again. Before when it was just a few games it was okay, but people are starting to get back on track again."

"Yeah, yeah..."

"So, Kailey, since you're done why don't you take the evening off? Red's been asking about you, I'm sure she'll want to hang out."

"Errr, I already have plans actually for this evening."

"Planning ahead, huh? I'm guessing you're taking Red to hang out in New Leaf? I'm sure she'll want to show you her new house upgrade since last time."

"No, like I have plans with _someone else_." Although she tried to hide it a faint pink hue overcame the line across her cheeks and nose.

"With who?" This seemed to catch Steven's attention further.

"Well... Turbo asked me out on a date." Oh yeah I forgot to mention that before, that Turbo and Kailey are a couple, oops. Something that ridiculous slips my mind easily. Well, not really I know everything and anything so I could have told you but it would have ruined the surprise. Don't flatter yourself, it surprised me too even though I saw it coming, how does a dame like her get with a puny little freak like that?

"He _did what_?"

"You're acting like you're surprised! He's been onto me from the very start, I'm sure you don't think being obsessed with kidnapping me and then magically turning to our side during that apocalypse was normal?"

"Bowser kidnaps Peach and that doesn't mean anything!"

"You're kidding, right? Bowser adores Peach! It might have been just some trippy plan at the beginning but believe me, we had a big ol Beauty and the Beast drama going on."

"So now you're _dating_ him?"

"We've _been_ dating!"

Steven looked flustered. It was almost as if he was trying to bury that idea in the back of his head for ages and because it was now being dug back up he couldn't quite handle it. "I don't know why you date him anyway, he's short and in that King Candy form he looks old." _You're telling me, man. _

"He's a Program what do you expect!" Kailey sat up and scooted her seat in, "If I didn't know any better I'd assume you were jealous."

"I am not jealous, I'm just..." He was so totally jealous, you humans are so easy to read.

"Don't worry, you're not the only one to think we're a weird couple." Kailey added before Steven could finish. A grin seemed to overcome her expression little by little then, ultimately being released by a chuckle, "I don't even know why you get so worked up about it, even Dannen has accepted it at this point and he's my brother. I say get used to seeing stuff like that, because I'm not the only one. Calhoun and Felix are a weird couple but I also saw a girl the other day holding hands with Sonic the Hedgehog."

Steven didn't answer. His confused and blunt expression stayed glued onto him until Kailey made it to the door. It was before she turned the doorknob that Steven managed to awkwardly pull away from his current thoughts and drag himself to say something else, "I still think you should bring Red with you. She misses you." He tried to encourage.

"You bet I do!" Red's voice pelted through the door, causing Kailey to step back in surprise. Only a second later did Kailey bring the door open, allowing Red to walk into the room, where apparently the little New Leaf girl had been waiting. "So where are we going tonight?" I have to admit she was pretty annoying, though of course so was another little chick I knew from Oregon.

"Well... I." Kailey was still taken aback about Reds appearance in the building, "I wasn't actually planning on..."

"Ohhh! I finally upgraded my house fully! It's so big you should really come and see it! Also the game is finally transitioning from summer to fall, so it's going to start looking nice soon!"

"Listen, Red..." Kailey started, "I'm going out with Turbo tonight. We can hang out but-"

"Wait, _hold up_!" Red looked up at Kailey, instantly snapping out of her blabbering about her house, "I can't go with you guys! Everyone will think I'm your kid again with Shortcake!"

Steven's face turned pink as his eyebrows irritably messed together at Red's comment.

"Like that's new." Kailey shrugged, "Don't worry about what other people think anyway."

"No! I don't want to be you guys third wheel anymore!"

"Well fine, if you think it's that bad why don't we make this a double date? You go and invite someone to take with you and we'll go out to eat at that new Japanese restaurant that opened down the street."

"A_ double date_?!" Based on Red's outburst this seemed like an even worse idea that her just going alone and looking like their child, "Okay, first up who would go on a date with me? I look like I'm twelve something years old!"

"Have Steven come with you." Kailey said.

"No! Nope, nope, nope! Don't drag me into this." Steven sat up quickly and gathered the papers on his desk and scurried past the two.

"See what I mean! I'll never get a date!" Red huffed.

"Well I'm sorry, but you either need to just come with us, get a date or not come at all. It's your choice."

Red huffed a little more but this time took her stick arms and wrapped them around herself tightly as if she was about to throw a fit. However, her continence reeled her back in and from her held breath she instead let out a sigh, "Okay... I'll go look for a date."

"We'll be at that restaurant at 8:00PM. I'll see you there."

"Sure thing..." Red mumbled, allowing Kailey to leave the room. She sat there in silence for a good ten minutes before walking away.

. . . . . . .

If you saw the utter patheticness of Red sitting like a puss on a swing set across the street for hours you would laugh your ass off too. I mean, who the hell does that? I've seen emo kids take things like dating better than she did. I suppose it was because of her situation. She was a woman in a little kid Animal Crossing body. I can't say I felt sorry for her because I lack empathy but if I did I would assume that's what sadness looked like. If it were raining it would have been perfect and I'd probably throw a lightning bolt on her too if I could.

Thoughts scrambled through her head about who she would ask on this double date. This mesh of images in her brain came together so quickly that this frustration could finally be seen on her face. Even little question marks appeared over her head as a part of her programmed form, so this made it look all the more comical.

"Who would go on a date with me?" Red muttered aloud, but just barely, "I can't take Trickster, he's a Pokemon and that wouldn't look right. Gah! I don't know. I might as well give up and not go at all. I don't even know why I gave this idea any slack."

It was then, piercing through that tranquil yet disparaging air that a light formed before her _(heh I freaking love this part). _This circle of light remained still before the swing set, locking her attention, then proceeded to take formation. A bright yellow and ravishing being in the shape of a triangle manifested before her, causing even the cold air itself to shiver in awe.

"HELLO!" The floating being said giddily (_I'll give you a clue you meatbags, it's me_), "I see you're in quite a conundrum, Doll Face. I have made my presence known to you so that you may make three wishes of your hearts desire!"

"What? Three wishes, really?" Red's pouting immediately shot into a smile.

"HAHAHA! No, just screwing with ya, I'm no damn genie." I laughed and let that soak in for a second. The distraught look on Red's face was priceless. "But ya know, I can help you out... The name's Bill just in case you were wondering."

"Really?" Her face lit up again.

"Look here, Doll Face I can see you need a date for this thing tonight and here I am. So go ahead, ask me."

"Are you serious?" Her domineer, although brightened had a twinge of skepticism in it, "I just met you though."

"Ah, who cares! Crazy shit like that happens all the time. You meet somebody you ask them out, it's not like a total alien thing you know."

"Okay... will you go out with me?"

"Whoa, whoa hold your horses, kid. I can't just go out with you just like that. I gotta get something out of the deal."

"What do you want then?" Red answered, "I don't have much... well, other than my house in New Leaf that is. You wanna be mayor or something?"

"Nah I don't wanna be no stupid mayor, kid." I relaxed a bit and hovered sideways in the air, making it look like I was leaning on an invisible wall to provide a sense of causality to the situation, "I only ask for a small favor in return."

"What kind of favor?" Red asked, "What do you want me to do?"

"Nothing right now, Doll Face, don't worry about it. I'll bring it up when the time comes near. Though I warn you, anything goes, and there's no backing down. So what do you say, do we have a deal?"

A moment of silence overtook the yard as the October breeze halted and stopped the shifting of the leaves among the grasses. Red's eyes scanned the floor, deep in thought as she balanced the odds, "Sure. Deal." Red stated.

"Let's shake on it then, kid!" I extended a thin arm outward to the girl, though suddenly and rather uncontrollably my palm becoming engulfed in a cool blue flame. This blue eerie light seemed to encase the small area in which we stood like a candle among a dimly lit room.

Red broke from her reluctance and extended her hand back up to mine, gripping my little palm firmly and causing the blue flame to encase her own palm. "You got yourself a date! Haha!" I laughed again, though this time Red cringed in return. Boy oh boy, was this going to be a freaking fun night. What an idiot, am I right? Ha!

Being weird and able to transition into different clothes literally within the blink of an eye Red put on a little black and white stripped dress to go along with her Red Riding hood theme that she constantly stuck with. I don't know if that was because Red, the Shell Program body, was originally created to look like that or she just wanted to pun the shit out of the name Red and do that, but who am I kidding, it works. Anyway, so 8:00PM came up quick and we were about to meet up with that taller dark haired dame and her little ass streak of a date Turbo. I already knew they were inside the large restaurant though Red seemed to be lagging behind. She was nervous for some stupid reason, don't even ask, I guess she had never been on a date before cause she looked like a kid or something.

"What's the matter, kid, you coming or not?" I said aloud, floating before the sidewalk directly before the restaurant, "You're acting like the worlds falling on top of you."

"I'm just... well." Red stuttered, "I'm worried something might go wrong."

Hahahahaha! I'm sorry, give me a second to reconcile my thoughts here, this was so hilarious. You'd have to be standing there in front of her to see how she looked. Her eyes were perfect circles that were added with little lines as the sound of multiple and out of tune piano cords struck out of the blue. I guess it was part of her Program Shell body that did these things, but still.

"Believe me, Doll Face, this is nothing. I could show you what it feels like for something to _really_ go wrong." I hinted my future plans for the evening quite bluntly but she seemed to ignore it. "Look here, Red, just go in there and sit down with Mama there and Shorty and everything will be... fine." My form cringed a little when I said this, but this cringe dissipated rather instantly. Yet again, she refused to take this as a negative sign. Dense.

"Okay, I'm going." Red straightened herself up and entered the door and walked inside, coming up to the table within a few seconds.

"Hey, Red! Glad you decided to come." Kailey said as she looked up from the menu she was holding. She placed a strand of hair behind her ear and set the list of food items down to focus all her attention on her. Turbo, still in his King Candy form, remained silent beside her.

"Hey, Kailey." Red greeted, "Yeah, it was kinda last minute but I got a date."

"Oh really? I'd like to meet him, where is he?"

"He's right-" Red paused when she noticed I didn't follow her into the restaurant. I watched her walk right in there and she didn't once turn around to make sure I was behind her. What a freak, hahaha! "He's... uh, I'll go get him!"

Red turned around instantly and flew back outside, where she found me floating in the exact same spot I was beforehand. The only difference was that I was screwing around with a fire hydrant at that point, waiting for this dog to get close enough to where I could pull the plug and blast the little beast sky high.

"Where were you, why didn't you come in?" Red fussed a little, "I walked in there looking like an idiot!"

"You didn't say anything." I said seriously as I continued to focus on the dog across the road, "It's not my fault you looked like an idiot."

Red turned, well, red for a second as she became flustered and a little bit irritated. It was from her moment of irritability that I flicked my wrist, sending the fire hydrant erupting with water, causing the pooch to almost piss itself as water came pouring down on top of it. "Hahahaha!" I laughed out loud, "Animals are pretty dumb too, aren't they?"

"Look, I'm going back in and you're coming with me!"

"All right, I'll come in." I responded, "Oh hey, you want me to screw with that Turbo guy a little bit? I see they're getting their drinks right now. I can turn his Coke into some sort of other liquid then we can watch his reaction when he drinks it."

"Wait, how do you know they're getting their drinks? And are you some sort of telepathic Program or something?" Red asked aloud firstly, though her curiosity of what I was capable of turned to amusement upon the idea of knowing we could prank Turbo, "And wait, what? You can turn liquids to something else?"

"Ya, you know..." I responded casually, "Car engine oil, bats blood, moose piss. That kind of stuff."

"Haha, that would be funny. Teach Shortcake a lesson about making fun of me, that's for sure."

"All right." I stated simply and began to focus on Turbo's drink in the restaurant. It was upon my concentration that Red turned around and started marching back inside. I guess she assumed I'd follow her inside again but I just watched her go back and return to the table.

"Okay, I want you to meet Bill." Red said with a sigh, "I'm not all too sure what game he's from though but he seems pretty cool."

Kailey and Turbo looked around baffled for a second though returned their gaze to the little New Leaf girl after they realized she hadn't brought anyone inside. "Red, who exactly is Bill?" Kailey asked calmly.

"He's the triang-" Red paused, wide eyed and embarrassed upon the realization that I didn't follower he back inside once again. "I don't believe this!"

"Look, Red, you don't have to worry about not having a date. You can hang out with us regardless." Kailey was trying to be sweet but Red was taking things way to seriously at this point so she became flustered anyway.

"No, he's here!" Red said as her face continued to turn red like a volcano.

It was then, that Turbo opened the can to his Coke and took a sip. Though once his tongue gathered a gulp full of the liquid he paused inquisitively and looked at the can, eyeing the thing like it was a foreign object. "This'th Coke taste like a Pepsi." He stated as is brow raised. Holy shit, I wish I could have recorded that but alas, his reaction was buried forever in my eternal memory instead.

Kailey and Red looked at him a moment, each in a different way, before returning to converse with each other, "I'll be right back." Red stated and walked away and back outside to where I was. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" She fussed upon the door closing behind her, "You said you'd follow me inside!"

"You didn't say when!" I said mockingly, "Don't give me that look."

"And what the hell was that? You turned a Coke into a Pepsi? That was your big transformation?"

"Hey, Doll Face, quit fussing at me, I'm no damn butler."

She signed again, "Look, this time you need to come in."

"I can come in, you say?" Although I was trying to hide malice at this point her invitation was to difficult to refuse, "I suppose I could. How about we shake on it, huh? A good date, and you agree again with our deal from before. Anything goes."

"Fine, whatever!" Red wailed her hands in the air impatiently.

"All right, first things first." I said and turned around to face her, "I got a necklace for you to wear."

"Wait, what?" Red paused in her series of fits and looked at me as if she was surprised, "You got a necklace for me?"

"That's what I said, didn't I?" I twirled my wrist again and a yellow crystal gem on a chain appeared around her neck. It was perfect, everything was falling together so easily. She was the little red riding hood unaware that there existed wolves in sheep's clothing. "How about we shake on that deal? Just once more?"

"S-sure." She stuttered as she blushed, taking her little hands and placing them on the gem that sat on her chest. She couldn't fathom what I had given it to her; it seemed she really lacked the idea of what it meant to receive something as a gift that wasn't just part of some characters programming. Too bad it wasn't a gift of sincerity.

Our hands reached out to each other in unison. For a moment longer, the darkened city retained it's tranquil glow among the city lights, though this sense of serenity having become like a snapshot in time once our hands touched. I let my blue flames engulf her form, causing my power to rip her soul from her program body like slipping a glove off a hand. Most intriguingly was the fact that her soul didn't look like her Red body, but who she was before she became Red. Her human self. I wondered how such a tall soul could be kept contained in that little physical form. Alas, it was just as easy to rip apart, and once I had her spirit separated from her body I stuffed it in the yellow gem, trapping her inside and giving me complete access to her body. It would be mine to control!

"Hahahah! HAHAHAHA!" I let out a lungful of laughter and with every passing breath this laugh became louder and louder among the streets. I could hear her screaming inside the gem, knocking on its interior though to no avail. Something as terrifying as this was pleasing to me. "All right, let's do this." I tried containing myself as I took a step forward, stumbling momentarily before I managed to get used to the physical form.

"What's going on here, let me out!" Red yelled, however her yelling silent to the real world among us, "What kind of Program are you!? Are you a virus?!"

"Ha! Kid, I don't know what you're talking about." I responded. "A deal's a deal though. I'll give you folks a good night and I can do whatever I want. You should really listen to the details before signing a contract."

I took a step forward, and then another, becoming acquainted quite instantly with Red's body. It was nothing from there; I simply walked back into the restaurant and back to the table, taking a seat across the way from Kailey and Shorty, allowing silence to set in before they noticed my arrival. I'd have to act for a while to get on their good side of course.

"Red?" Kailey peaked again from her menu, eyeing me strangely before she spoke up again, "Are you doing all right? Where is this Bill guy?"

"He's here..." I tried staying in lines with what Red might say but I was getting exited. I wanted to burst out and start the party then and there, but the timing wasn't quite right. Just thirty more seconds.

Kailey eyed me again, her lips forming into somewhat of a pout as she looked around, "I'm sorry Red, but you can't keep up these shenanigans. I understand if you couldn't find a date, it's completely okay."

"You're too nice, Toots, you know that?" This slipped my mouth and brought a sense of awkwardness to the table, causing Turbo to pull his attention form his menu and to me. However, I ignored this and set my attention back on the human girl, "Say, how hard can you punch?"

"Kailey! KAILEY!" Red was constantly yelling in the gem around the bodies neck, though I was the only one who could hear her. It took some heavy concentration to ignore her pleading and to return to the reality in front of me. Twenty more seconds.

"Red... are you feeling okay?" Kailey asked softly, "Maybe you should go back home and lie down."

"I'm fine, completely _fine_." I couldn't help but grin as the realization that I wasn't really Red overcame Kailey's expression. She wasn't as dense at least, but that was fine. The fun was about to start now and I could feel it easing over me like electricity flowing through a power-line. Yes, a power-line, if you could feel that rush like I could; to see it happening miles away and even envisioning the chaos that follows you'd know what I mean. Ten seconds.

"Look." Kailey's eyes narrowed. I could feel her heart begin to race as her hands tightened into fists from under the table, "You need to leave, _now_."

_Three, two one..._

The power shut off in the restaurant first, then one by one throughout the city. Even the streaming light of the cities beacon shut down, causing utter blackness to take over our reality. Instantly the people in the restaurant started chattering, some screaming, as the people running the place spoke up and started giving orders, "Everybody, please evacuate the restaurant."

Although attempting to be calm, the seriousness of the situation was terrifying. Funny how these beacons work. See, they're like Christmas lights. If one goes out, then all the other ones in the state district go out too. Dannen and the crew that was sent out to fix the one in Hunstville didn't realize that the power leakage wasn't an _accident_.

I started to chuckle then, my imitation of Red's voice vanishing like a wave of adrenaline upon letting go of my attempts of faking in front of Kailey and Shorty. My chuckle started turning again into outright laughter, and it was only then that Turbo looked up alerted from his dismissive mindset to match that of Kailey's beside him.

"Red's not here anymore!" I said through my laughter, "Bill's here! I'm Bill, get it now? I was screwing with your friend the entire time and now I'm going to screw with you guys!"

I sat up instantly from my seat and took out the ax that was in Red's pocket, swinging it onto the table as hard as I could and embedding the blade into the wood with a loud crack. This caused the people evacuating to hall ass completely out of there, leaving Kailey and Turbo who had remained seated to jump away and try to head for the door themselves. However, luckily for me and because of the blackout, the doors automatically lock once they close.

"Where's Red?!" Kailey hollered, for the moment completely daring in my presence. I have to admit she had guts.

"She's fine. Well, fine as a trapped soul can be. Can you imagine someones entire essence trapped in an item as small as your thumb? Pretty fucking sick, huh?"

This alerted her quite a bit, though I only broke her once I charged again, swinging the ax at them all the while unleashing my laughter to fill the pitch black restaurant. Kailey screamed and darted to the side while Turbo turned to the other. Shorty was alerted though he didn't seem to holler as much as she did.

"Give her back!" Kailey yelled again, and tossed a chair at me. I swung the ax hard at the oncoming chair, ripping it in half however before it could hit me.

"Got some arm there, Toots! Ha!" I couldn't help but start laughing again as I charged at her all the while continuing to swing the blade around. I moved just slowly enough to toy with her so she could run back and grab a hold of Turbo to head towards the back most part of the restaurant. "Keep running, I got all night!" I yelled again.

Out of fear and in a split second Kailey took Turbo and dived into a closet, closing and locking the door behind her. It could have been easy to hack away at it but I just stood outside it, listening for a moment. "Shit!" I heard Kailey say, "I left my purse on the table!"

"What' the matter? Don't have a phone to call for help?" I teased, "Don't worry, you two just kick back, relax and play seven minutes in heaven in that closet there while I hack a this door."

"No!" I heard Kailey gasp, "Please, don't!"

"Don't hurt them!" Red cried from within the gem, "Bill, stop this, now! This isn't what I wanted! I just wanted a date for the evening so I'd fit in!"

"Like I said, you should pay attention to the details of a contract before you make any hasty decisions, Doll Face!" I responded sarcastically, "Now you're mine! Ha! And because anything goes, I get to screw with your friends!"

"Let me out! DON'T HURT THEM!"

"You bet I can make them both pass out in one move?" I ignored her pleas with another bet, "Listen, it'll be hilarious!"

Without waiting for feedback I pelted myself from Red's body and passed through the door. In a quick decision, now in the pitch black closet I hurled myself into Turbo, not kicking his soul out but messing with him just enough where I assumed control of his body. This caused him to glitch everywhere, this red hued light filtering over the room in echos and pulses, allowing Kailey to see what was going on. Through this glitching Turbo turned from his King Candy persona and into his true form, allowing my yellow gaze to stick out much more suitably through his. It was with the help of his glowing eyes that helped with the feeling I was going for.

"Turbo?" Kailey spoke up once the glitching had settled down. I remained turned away from her, listening to her breath escalate as time lingered on. "Turbo, what happened? Why did you glitch? You're not supposed to glitch in the real world."

Again I remained quiet and listened, but only for a moment longer. I wanted to remain still long enough to catch her by surprise.

Only after I felt I had waited just long enough I turned around quickly to stun her. Because I acted so abruptly she couldn't look at me directly, still unaware that Turbo was no longer in control. After my turn I dashed across the closet and grabbed her, spinning her downward in a dip, and as hard as I could held her stationary and gave her a good hard, inappropriate kiss.

Apparently she knew something was up, because after a few seconds she started to struggle and attempted to push me away. Even though I had her right where I wanted her and could have easily held her down longer, I pulled back. Instantly I brought myself to grin as wide as I could, showing Turbo's yellow teeth that matched his glowing yellow eyed gaze. I allowed a quick glitch to surge through his body for an extra scare. "What's the matter, Toots?" I said as scarily as I could, even realizing myself how strange my voice sounded in replacement of his, "No tongue?! HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Her eyes rolled back and she instantly passed out. It was hilarious. I couldn't keep her up any longer so I dropped her in order to turn Turbo's arms to hug his stomach to hold myself together. I don't think I laughed as hard as I did for at least a few years. It was terrific.

"What did you do to them?!" I could hear Red's spirit holler, "Don't hurt them!"

"I didn't hurt them, Doll Face, quit your wining! HAHAHAHA!" I literally could not stop laughing. At that moment I had to completely pull from Turbo, allowing myself some time to hover over both their unconscious bodies. "To easy!"

"Tell me what you did!" Red yelled again.

"I made them both pass out, just like I said!"

"That's impossible, Kailey never passes out!"

"WELL SHE SURE DID THIS TIME! HA!" I took a moment to gather myself and then unlocked the door, followed by slipping through the opening and returning to Red's body. After that, I dragged Turbo's body to the front of the place, watching as from my absence his form start to glitch back and ultimately settle onto King Candy. I made sure to prop him up and stick an empty Coke can in his hand to make it look like he was a drunk hobo or something. "Hm, something's missing." I stated aloud. A light bulb went off and I reached inside Red's pocket, taking out one of her envelops that she would have used to write letters to folks in her game. I drew knuckles on it and smacked it on Turbo's head, then took a step back. I only stared for a few second before I let loose another heavy laugh.

"Ha, get it?" I said aloud, turning the gem towards the unconscious Program, "See that? See what I did there?"

"A fist?" Red was confused, "What does that mean?"

"They're knuckles! Knuckle Head, get it? HAHAHA!" I didn't care if she got it, I thought the pun was brilliant since he had a big bald head anyway. "Anyway, where was I? Oh! Kailey should be waking up any moment now. Let's wait for her, shall we?"

"No!" Red said defiantly. She started to pound against the topaz gem once again but regardless of whatever she did she would never be able to break its hold. I was starting to think that she actually assumed that pounding on the thing would actually work, so out of a quick surge of irritation my laugh melted as I became serious.

"Look, Doll Face, quit that punching it's never going to work. The only way you'll ever get out of there is when I want to let you out." I paused momentarily to see if she would stop, but again, I continued to hear her hitting on the walls of her prison like a defiant child. It was getting to the point where she was starting to ruin the fun and games I was having; not that in the full outlook of things it mattered, but it was just that little prick in your back you couldn't brush off that made all the difference. I picked up the gem using her own palm, and focused hard on its surface and all its innards. It only took a quick flash before I allowed my blue fire to fill Red's hands, in return, begin to heat up the gem she was inside.

"Arrrggg! What are you doing?!" Red started to holler when she realized she was actually feeling a temperature change, "What's going on?!"

"Got your attention, huh?" I stated as I felt a grin encase the bodies expression, "Have you ever heard of hell fire, kid? This is just a taste of it. You want it to stop, you better stop pounding on that gem, got it? You're distracting me. And among all things, you're being defiant upon something that you made a deal with. I said no exceptions, no turning back. You're mine now, quit acting out!"

I heard an utterly void silence replace the pounding and hollering from before. It was like the eye of the storm that passed over a place once being rampaged with wind, only to become withdrawn after a certain time. I knew Red wouldn't' stay quiet forever though; she would probably forget after Kailey woke up and I started messing with her again. Typical human emotions.

It was then, among that silence that I heard the closet door jingle and finally the door itself open. Although I didn't see her just yet I knew Kailey was peeking outside to look at her surroundings. As a reaction, what irritation I had before dissipated quickly as I returned to a direct focus on the dark haired dame before me.

After a few moments Kailey had walked away from her hiding place and was easing her way outward into the open room. As her eyes scanned over the darkness it hit me that she was going to try and find her phone. As fun as it sounded to get her friends like Wreck-It Ralph and that Sergeant involved I had a preference to just mess with her. Turbo had easily been knocked out due to the instability of his coding, so just a single prey to focus on was all I really needed. Besides, the power would be back on soon, and I wanted to savor this darkness for as long as I possibly could due to its ability to make my plans move along as I wanted.

"You know, I should have formally introduced myself while you were out cold, Toots." I said aloud to get her attention. Quickly Kailey halted her gaze over the room and to the left, where she instantly saw me in Red's body, "See, I live in a place called the Dreamscape. You can't really see me unless you're out of it, though Programs seem to be a little different for some reason. Interesting, isn't it? Although I have heard of people that could see beings of pure energy like me, they're just rare. I wonder... would you be able to?"

"Stay away from me!" Kailey ignored my question. Of course, I knew she was going to. That sort of question could be answered another day now that I had free range on all of Red's friends.

"Start running." I stated, chuckling a bit through my attempts at being serious. After my statement I took out Red's ax again, allowing it to shine under the moonlight to where Kailey could see it. Once she saw it, she listened rather quickly. I wish Red was as obedient as she was.

Due to the front doors being locked Kailey took another route and headed to the kitchen in the back. Although fast I managed to keep up, darting through the chairs and tables all the way to where she was going. The sound of our footsteps became more echoed once we reached the kitchen area, however, causing a sort of distortion among the walls that confused Kailey as she struggled to find her way through the darkness. It was only when she realized she was cornered, that she turned around to face me, reaching her hand out desperately for something to grab, to her luck, grabbing a frying pan from the struggle.

"Stay back! I'm warning you!" Kailey said as she held the pan upward, her arms shaking only momentarily between moments as she stared me down.

"You're warning me? Ha!" I said, "Damn, you really have some spitfire to ya, talking to someone like me like that." I ignored her warnings and approached her, keeping the ax to the side as to not actually hurt her just in case she decided to do something funny. As I got closer, however, I could sense she was preparing to hit me with the pan. I almost ached for it to happen. No, I wanted it to happen. Not only did I want to feel Red's body pain tolerance but I just wanted to _feel _something. Being a being of pure energy that doesn't experience any of the senses can get old after a while.

Just like I anticipated, her frying pan came plummeting down onto Red's head, though of course, this didn't do much to faze me. As a matter of fact I grinned wider because of it, "Is that all you got?" I chuckled loudly, "_Harder_!"

Stunned, but not backing down she hit me sideways this time, sending Red's face flying to the right. However, I recovered quickly, containing that large grin wrapped around the bodies face like it was plastered onto me, "Do it _harder_!"

After that, I could see "DONE" written all over her expression. She took the frying pan and shoved it at me with enough force to push me back, creating an opening for her to escape. I saw her jump around me and around the corner so fast that it was like watching a doe leap a fence.

"_Where are you going_?" I hummed lightly, turning around and following her out a back door that hadn't been shut from the evacuation and into the streets. It was only after she left the doorway and turned an immediately left did she realize she was in an alley way. "This night is just getting better and better." I said aloud, though I knew good and well from that point it was almost over. At least for now.

Kailey flipped around, realizing she was cornered once again and pressed herself against the brick wall as she brought her arms around her chest as if attempting to shield her body. I let the ax hang from my hands as I approached her, continuing to laugh and soak up the entertainment I was getting out of the situation. However, among my laughter, Red started pounding on the gem again, breaking the mood quite instantly.

"STOP IT! LEAVE HER ALONE!" She hollered, "Please, just leave her alone!"

"Begging now, aren't we?" I responded, without caring that Kailey could hear me, "Don't worry, I'll leave her alone. For now."

After my statement, the power around the city came back on. Like a deep breath, I heard the gasp of electricity course through the buildings, ultimately reaching the beacon in the distance, which provided that last bright ray to send its light over and even into the alley. I took that moment, too pull myself from Red's body, and in return reach into the gem around the bodies neck and pull out her soul.

"Wh-what's going on?" Red stuttered as if surprised I listened to her, "Why did you let me out?"

I took a long look at her soul and how utterly different it was compared to the Red program; she was a human girl, perhaps not older than twenty one and yet this appearance of her true self was permanently hidden among this shell body. Again, that peak of interest coursed through me, much like the city had done with its return to power. Humans were pretty dumb but then again they were pretty smart too. I would have guessed it would have taken at least another century for them to come this far technological wise, but like everything there were many paths in time and space to take.

"My dearest, Red." I said aloud, continuing to keep my grip on her hand as to not let her soul fall back into her body just yet, "I let you out because it's all in my plan. Don't think this is over. There are many other nights. You haven't seen the last of me. Just remember, I'll be watching you. Also, reality is an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold, byeee!"

From my goodbye I finally let go, watching her soul fall back into her program body, disappearing into it like water into a sponge. Afterwards, I dissipated into the air and buried myself in the fabric of reality as to make sure it seemed I was completely gone. I waited, however, and listened before I left completely.

Kailey's eyes were wide as she stared at Red waking up. She had apparently seen the entire thing based on how baffled and amazed she looked. This wide eyed and open mouthed stare remained as Red woke up, taking a gasp of air into her lungs as if she had come up from being submerged in water for the longest time. "Ugh." Red stated as she dropped the ax in her hand, "What did you do? Hit me with a frying pan?"

Kailey remained still for a moment, but after it slowly began to dawn on her that Red was herself again she sat up and rushed over to her friend, landing on her knees and patting Red down as a mother would do if she were to inspect her child of bruises, "Red! Red, are you okay?"

"Just soar..." Red responded, "I guess my body is just as underwhelming as usual."

"You can get a medicine pack in New Leaf to make you feel better." Kailey stated, "But... who was that glowy triangle thing I saw hovering over your body? He was talking to a big puff ball of air that looked like a person."

"That puff ball of air happened to be me." Red said as if she was offended, "And that glowy Doritos asshole was Bill."

"B-bill?" Kailey stuttered my name a little bit, "You mean that Program you asked out did all this to you?! But how? I thought only... well viruses could do that."

Ha, they were still contemplating whether if I was a Program or not. I guess things get a little confusing and it's hard to tell what is what the further you bury yourself in technology. All I can say is that I'm a being of pure energy with no weakness, and viruses, as malicious as they are, have weaknesses.

I watched them for a moment help each other up, continuing to shroud myself in the fabric of reality, those fibers that acted as windows between the world among me and the Dreamscape. Knowing these two particularly could see me struck my interest, so of course I'd have to return when the time was needed. But for now, I'll just have to keep an eye on Red and her friends. I foresee many possibilities that await me through these course of events.

. . . . . . .

So, there you have it, the creepy story is over. But please, don't roll your eyes at this bullshit, this isn't the first time I've been involved in something weird like this. Possessing twelve year olds is my thing apparently. But then again Red isn't a twelve year old she just looks like one. Ah, whatever, you get the picture. Hey, being pretty much immortal leaves me a lot of time on my hands so I gotta entertain myself some how.


	2. Stanford: Part 1

**"Stanford: Part 1"**

**Summary: Getting applicants for new employees is pretty much a daily thing. There's always a job opening, but there are few who are truly up to the task. But, there was one applicant that seemed to surpass them all.**

**Written: March, 2016**

* * *

"I've looked over your resume… you seem, _overqualified_, if I have to put it simply," Kailey admitted. The typically resume she looked over was only around a page—two tops— but this one practically outnumbered them all. "But, what are your experiences outside of academics? Are you capable of keeping up with the programs and their sporadic behavior?"

"I've worked with many paranormal anomalies in my lifetime. There isn't anything that I've seen that could not out best me." The man sitting across the table from her, sat proudly, smirking, wearing a worn, tan trench coat, and red turtle neck sweater. Even his boots were covered in some amount of mud, which seemed out of the ordinary. Usually a candidate would attempt to dress up professionally during an interview; or at least get themselves cleaned up enough to pass off as a professional, but not this guy.

"Okay, _Dr. Pines_…" Kailey glared down at the resume again, taking everything she had just read, along with his answer into consideration. "And you find yourself feeling… physically capable of keeping up with the required position?" She wasn't being mean, per say, but she also couldn't help but notice he was much older than the average person she so often interviewed.

"Age has no meaning to me, Kailey. May I call you Kailey? Well, it's never gotten in my way before, and I'm not going to let it now. There's too much to discover! Your program discovery is amazing and the sheer fact they are able to live amongst us is beyond what I thought possible. Surely, there is a certain amount of _weirdness_ to this. And when I say that I mean it of no ill will. See, there are many aspects of reality I'm still trying to study, this one being the beginning of many questions. I think with our combined knowledge and understanding thus far of these programs, we can work together to both learn and grow from this conundrum."

"I'm glad you think that way, Mr. Pines," Kailey responds. She looks up from the resume, smiling softly this time. "We'd be happy to have you on the team. I say you're hired. When can you start?"

"Immediately, "Stanford responds, but he acts like he's not surprised that he was accepted so easily. "I'd love to meet the crew, if you don't mind. Getting to know my fellow colleagues will help in the future if I need assistance."

"Of course," Kailey says. "I wouldn't dismiss you without introducing you to everyone first. Please, follow me."

Kailey stands first, and Stanford follows close after. She escorts him to the main lab areas, where Steven is hard at work on some of the beacon blueprint updates. Red is standing close beside him, monitoring his movements, and making bickering comments.

"He wasn't a program, I'm honest!" Red yelps, her face turning red as her program form animates a series of smoke from her ears. "I mean, I thought he was at first, but he isn't!"

"I'm sure he'll get his soon," Steven responded. "It's been—what—three years already and we haven't heard from that thing. A lot has changed, and I've been updating these beacons ever since to be more effective against viruses, which that guy seems like he was."

"But he wasn't a cy-bug," Red corrected. "Only cy-bugs are attracted to the beacons."

"I know that, what do you think I am, a bloody idiot?"

"It sounded like you were saying that guy I took out on a date was a cy-bug."

"I said he was a virus."

Before the fight could continue, Red's attention was broken from Steven and she soon found herself looking up at Kailey, and Stanford. A question mark animation appeared over her head a few moments after she noticed the newcomer.

"Who is the old goat?" Red asked.

Kailey's face turned color from embarrassment, and her teeth gritted together in anger. "Red, that's no way to talk to one of your co-workers!" she fussed. "Apologize now!"

"Coworkers? You mean Kale Plant here just hired you?" Red responded, her attention quickly turning in full towards Stanford. "Well, what, do you have a name?"

"It's certainly a pleasure, no an honor to meet you! My name is Stanford Pines; I've learned quite a lot about your fellow programs but this is a wonderful opportunity to get to work with one side by side. Your name is Red, right?"

"You… know my name?" Red asks.

"Why of course I do! I've done extensive research on all of you, to be honest. Who you are, what you represent, and the work you do is all significant in the fields I'm currently studying. From the moment I heard about what you've all done I knew I had to meet you in person."

"I like this guy," Red stated. "Steven, I think this guy might be cooler than you. A dweeb, but cool."

"Don't call him a dweeb!" Steven fussed. "She means well, really." Steven extends a hand out, only to realize it's covered in grease, wipes it on his jeans, and then extends it to shake Ford's hand. "I'm Steven, chief engineer and computer program technician."

"Oh, Steven Wheatfield! Yes, I know who you are. You were the brilliant mind that came up with the Shiva Laser!" Stanford comments.

"Oh… haha, yeah… that's me," Steven muttered, blushing in the process. "I try my best at least. It was always my intention to change humanity, but it's taken a long time getting it to a point of a stability."

"That's the struggle of progress, Steven," Stanford nodded, placing a palm on his shoulder. "You're doing good."

"Dr. Pines, if you'd like I can show you around the rest of the facility. There are also a few other programs roaming about that I'm sure you'd like to meet," Kailey stated next. "After that I can give you a debriefing on what our leads are. We've been receiving signals towards the lakes northwest from here. I'm guessing they're from a roaming, undocumented program."

"Yes! That's sounds exiting, do take me wherever you find of most importance," Stanford exclaimed, just as excited as he seemed during the interview. "And please, call me Stanford."

. . . . . . .

"What do you think is in that big ol' suitcase of his?" Red asked Kailey, who was sitting across the table from her. The office was quiet for the exception of Kailey's fingers crossing across her lap top keyboard.

"I don't know, Red, I'm kinda busy," Kailey responded, her voice monotone from her focus.

"You can do work later, I wanna know what's in that old guys suitcase!" Red fussed again.

"Red, this is very important!" Kailey's voice raised for a second. "I need to transfer these notes into the system for Steven to look over. If you can't already tell, the signals we are getting from the lakes could prove dangerous."

"Everything is dangerous!" Red huffed. "Look, if you're not going to come with me then I'm going to look at what Stanford has stashed in his suitcase myself."

"You better leave him alone," Kailey muttered, again, driving further of her attention back onto the computer screen.

"Nah." Red jumped from her seat in the office and started walking towards the door. "I'm gonna do it. I'm gonna look in his case."

"Red!"

"Oh, what's wrong, Kale Plant? You want me to be a good girl and not look in his case?"

"Red, it's not just morals here, he's our newest recruit since Andy. I don't want you scaring him off, of pissing him off for that matter. If you haven't seen already, we need help around here!"

"I can't hear you…" Red hummed, and started walking out the door. This caused Kailey to slam her laptop screen shut and start running after Red, who had already pelted down the hallway and to Stanford's new office down the hall.

In a matter of seconds, Red made it to Ford's office, practically slamming it open, and then rushed inside. Luckily, Stanford was nowhere to be found, but his suitcase sat dormant at the side of his desk.

Red rubbed her nubbed hands together as a brief flash of yellow light went across her eyes, an animated tune following.

"Leave it alone, Red, do you seriously want to make a fool of yourself?" Kailey remarked.

"I've had enough of your lame ass, no fun attitude since this company started!" Red said. "The last time you had fun was when you used to date that Turbo guy, and now look at you! Why did you guys stop dating anyway?"

"You wouldn't understand, Red." Kailey steered her gaze away from her for a second and behind her, looking around the hall just in case Ford was coming. Luckily, he was nowhere to be seen. "Turbo was unstable. After getting out of that cy-bug form for the first time in years he was able to settle down. He had to leave, and explore what this new world had to offer him." She paused, only for a second, as she recollected her memory. "I did what I could, but I wasn't meant to be in his life forever."

"So, it just didn't work out?" Red raised a brow. "Well, look where that put you. You're lame now. Sounds to me like you need to find yourself another man."

"I do not need to _'find myself another man'_," Kailey hissed through her teeth. "Do you want me to lock you back in the 3DS?"

"Go ahead then, Mom! Do it!" Red fought. But Kailey was silent. She talked big but she would never really threaten her friends that way, and mean it.

Instead of listening, Red walked over to the suitcase and opened it. Inside was, firstly, the usual. Some pens and pencils, scraps of paper with equations written on it. However, standing out from that was a variety of different cylinders and vials, some with corkscrews above them to keep assortments of liquid within from spilling. Red ended up picking up an orange liquid, slightly rusted in color and mimicking the consistency of blood.

"What do you think the nerd made here?" Red asked. After looking at it for a few seconds she started shaking it.

"Stop!" Kailey hollered from the doorway. "What are you doing, didn't you learn anything in science class! Don't mess with unknown shit!"

"Hey, you as his boss have every right to know what this is." For once Red was sounding reasonable. But her actions that tried to find out the truth weren't so much. She opened the vial.

"Red, stop! Kailey finally lunged forward, out of desperation. Red jumped backwards, avoiding Kailey's attack, and landed softly enough a few inches away without spilling it.

"I wonder what this is?" Red asked. She peeked her eye into the vial to look harder at the liquid inside, and then hovered her nose over it and took a big sniff. "Smells like stank," she commented, and then sniffed again.

"Okay, Red, please, would you put the vial down now?" Kailey's voice had calmed down and she was asking her kindly. This in itself seemed to get Red's attention.

"Ah, all right, Kale Plant," Red responded, put the cork back onto the vial, and stuck the container back in the case where it belonged. "You're no fun, you know that?"

. . . . . . .

A few days had gone by and Kailey and Steven were very much busy with the arising mission. Stanford had already set up his office and was in the process of gathering together all the files available on the signal from the lakes. It was only a matter of time before they would venture out to find any leads, but in the meantime, Steven and Kailey sat in the dining halls, sitting down after a long morning for lunch.

"I'll bet it's that virus you and Red ran into a few years ago," Steven guessed, taking a bite of his food afterwards. "It couldn't have just disappeared."

"Look, Steven, there's been something I've been meaning to actually tell you." Kailey mashed her palms together, allowing her fingers to intertwine. "I don't think that, triangle Bill guy was a virus."

"What do you mean?" Steven asked, confused. "All the evidence points to him being a virus. I mean, he took over Red, and then Turbo afterwards. They're both programs, so it was a computer virus, attacking programs."

"Yeah, I know they're both programs," Kailey sighed. "But that doesn't mean he was just a virus. Cy-bugs are viruses. They're mindless creatures. Calhoun says all they do is kill, eat and multiply. This one was different. It was aware. It was intelligent. So it couldn't be a virus."

"I don't know," Steven took another bite, but continued to think.

After a few seconds Red walked in. Her facial expressions indicated that she was very much under the weather. Every so often she would sneeze, and animated trembles would overcome her entire body. "Hey, guys," she greeted meekly, and then jumped up to join Kailey and Steven at the dining table.

"Whoa, what's wrong with you?" Steven asked. "You look like you have a cold. Is that even possible?"

"Well, in the New Leaf games it's possible for NPCs to get sick, but I've never heard of player based characters getting sick, let alone Shell Programs like Red," Kailey explained. "Red, maybe you should go lay down? Steven can do an analysis on you to see what's going wrong."

"Nah, I'm fine, never felt better!" Red lied. She sneezed again, this time right onto Steven's face.

"Gross, Red, watch where you sneeze!" Steven hollored. He didn't seem to fazed though, just grossed out.

"Sorry," Red apologized, and turned her face a different direction to sneeze, but accidentally sneezed on Kailey this time.

Kailey merely whipped her palm across her face, showing a disdainful expression, but otherwise not freaking out. After all, Red was a program. She couldn't possibly spread biological viruses.

"Here, I'm gonna go check her out now," Steven offered, and sat up.

"I'll finish my lunch, if you don't mind," Kailey said. "I'll catch up with you later."

Steven nodded, and then bent down ever so slightly to take Red by the hand, and started walking with her out of the dining hall and into the labs. He would help her up onto a hospital-like bed, and then hook her up to an EKG specially designed for analyzing program pulses, and then ran a scan. A soft blue light hovered over Red briefly, before it came out as a negative for any significant viruses.

"Hm, doesn't look like anything is wrong with you," Steven said. "It's probably just a part of your programming. You'll occasionally get sick, just like in the game."

"That can't be right," Red sighed, and then sneezed again. "Didn't you hear what Kale Plant said? Player characters don't get sick."

Steven continued to stare at the results for a moment, and then looked back over at Red. If anything, he was far more confused now than he was before. It was only a sudden, uncontrollable sneeze that broke him from his stare, and caused him to seize up.

"Ugh, gross, where did that come from?" Steven remarked at his sneeze.

"Ha, maybe I got you sick," Red joked.

"That's impossible, you're a program." He suddenly sneezed again, shaking this time afterwards. "Ugh, but maybe I am coming down with something… I don't feel so good."

At that moment, the sound of the lab doors opened. The two looked the direction of the entrance, but instead of finding Kailey, like they expected, it was Stanford that walked in.

"Good morning, team!" Ford greeted happily. He was carrying a large stack of notes he must had taken overnight. "Good news, I have read over the signals you've been getting and have located the source of the anomaly!"

Usually, Steven would jump on the idea of a mission. He was always exited to do his job. But this time, he was so far from that idea that it was almost like everything was moving in slow motion.

"What's wrong with Red?" Ford asked next, taking notice of her on the scanning table.

"Uhhh…" Steven was having a hard time getting out his words. He was suddenly aware of a blistering heat coming off of his face. "She's… fine, as far as the scans show…" Steven started to explain, but before he could get into depth about it, he sneezed again, this time his sinuses filling with mucus. "Ugh…" He groaned, but his overall condition didn't stop him from staring at Ford. As a matter of fact, even if he tried, he couldn't stop looking at Ford.

"Looks like you've got a cold there, Steven," Ford stated. "You both look terrible, as a matter of fact."

"Uhhh," the two of them groaned in unison. But they both kept staring at him. This seemed to make Ford uncomfortable, but he coughed once to clear his throat, and then pulled out the first page to his notes.

"I think the signal is originating somewhere in the lower eastern side of the lake itself. I would suggest we go today, but you both don't look anywhere nearly physically capable of doing so."

"We can do it!" They both yelled out, but after they yelled they both started coughing.

"Yeah, I can totally help you, just leave it to me and I'll dive into the lake and catch you whatever you need. I do it all the time in my game when I gotta catch crabs and stuff." Red tried sitting up, and when she finally did, a proud animation consumed her.

"Look, Red, you've been sick longer than me…" Steven admitted, "So I'm probably more capable to help Stanford. I know how to utilize the equipment that reads where the signal is coming from, so I can find the proper location based on his findings."

"He doesn't need help finding it, you idiot, he needs someone who knows how to get their hands dirty!" Red fought. She pushed him slightly, which caused Steven to briefly lose his balance.

"Diving under water to catch crabs isn't what this is about!" Steven yelled.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

"Well, then are you capable of climbing the tallest mountains, dive the deepest freaking lakes, and all that for him? Huh? I don't think so! I'm more qualified!"

"AHHHH!" Suddenly Steven and Red disappeared into a puff cloud of smoke as they went into a physical fight. Although from the outside Stanford couldn't see the details of the fight, from behind the animated cloud it looked fairly violent. At least as violent as a fight between Steven and Red could get.

"You guys need to find help…" Ford stated, cringing ever so slightly. "I'm going to go find Kailey."

. . . . . . .

A couple of sniffles filled the dining hall, echoing due to the structure of the room and the tile floors. Kailey had just finished cleaning up after herself, and Steven for that matter, before she let go a series of violent coughs. Her eyes watered up in the process, building up a red hue on her face just after the coughing episodes ceased.

"Ugh, great, I'm getting sick too?" Kailey muttered to herself. She put a hand on her cheek to feel for a temperature, but there wasn't one, at least not yet. "I gotta rebuke it, this isn't happening."

"Kailey? Kailey are you in here?" Stanford's voice suddenly called out to her, again, creating an echo in the room. She pulled herself up to try and not act as sickly as she was feeling, and turned around to greet him.

"Stanford?" Kailey called back. He soon came from the doorway and entered the dining hall, still carrying his stack of papers. "What's wrong?" she asked next.

"I tried talking to Steven and Red about this, but they seem to be coming down with something. And their working etiquette is poor, to say the least, so I couldn't properly explain what I found this morning. I figured you'd be the one that could listen and help me instead."

"Oh, okay…" Kailey stood still in attempts to listen, but this was difficult. She couldn't help but notice little qualities about Stanford that were unique to only him. Even as he started talking, she noticed the way his jaw moved, the dimple on his chin, how his six-fingered hand gripped the stack of papers._ She hadn't even noticed his six-fingered hands before, what the hell was happening?_ Well, saying she didn't completely notice it was a lie, but it was more obvious to her now. When she did finally start listening to what he was actually saying, she diverted her attention from both his words, and how he sounded. He was_ incredibly_ intelligent. That was obvious too when she met him, but now it seemed like… a super quality.

"So... I think it's time we head to the lakes and check this out," Stanford had ended his explanation, but to be honest, a majority of what he said had gone right over Kailey's head. However, she nodded in agreement, and went along with him, avoiding the fact that she had not heard but maybe half of what was told to her.

"Of course!" Kailey tried perking up a little, ignoring her urge to clear her throat from what felt like snot trying to make its way into her sinuses and back of her nose. "We should go immediately! But… we might need help from the other two."

"I tried talking to them but they were beyond reason," Stanford said. "Maybe you should talk to them, Kailey. You've always seemed to carry that leadership attitude wherever you go. You can talk some sense into them."

"Oh, I guess I can," Kailey responded, blushing as she twirled her hair along her right index finger. "Here, let's go right now."

The two would make it quickly back to the lab areas, but once they walked in they both were surprised to see the scanning machine was toppled over, and on the floor Red was on top of Steven, pinning his neck down in a choke hold.

"Red!" Kailey gasped angrily, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?"

"Make him take it back!" Red fussed, and sniffled afterwards. "Make him take it back right now!"

"What did you say, Steven?!"

"I said… she was… an elf…" Steven gasped from under Red's chokehold.

"Say it again." Red's eyes fell into an intense glare, as animated smoke puffs shot out her hears. "_Say it again, you little shit."_

"You're… you're an elf!" Steven yelled. This only caused Red to let go of the chokehold and punch him square in the face. Causing him to retreated both hands onto his nose and let out a muffled screech.

"Okay, that's it!" Stanford took a stand this time, attempting to aid Kailey in her scolding. "I've had it with you two. Until you get your act together you are out of this mission!" He turned to Kailey, his anger switching to determination. "Kailey, we'll go together instead. I'm sure we'll get more work done without them."

Kailey was suddenly aware of an intense heat filling her cheeks, but it was more than a mere fever.

. . . . . . .

The lake provided a vastly different setting than that of the labs where the fight most likely continued. However, even with the tranquil sound of the fresh water patting against the shore, and the breeze blowing through the trees, Stanford made sure to explain how even in the midst of peace, this could only be the eye of the storm.

"Can you imagine it?" Stanford said, walking with a hand held transmitter, similar to the ones Steven used. "I've heard programs can manipulate reality based on their programming, but this one is strong! The last time I saw a reading like this was during my ventures in Gravity Falls!"

"I've heard some rumors about that place, but I was never really given solid answers," Kailey responded, sniffling, but so far being able to suppress any urge to cough or sneeze. "I talked to this one guy that said he was from Gravity Falls, and when I asked him about it, all he told me was 'never mind all that', whatever that means."

"Oh, that's just the towns agreement to not let people from out of town grow worried. I trust you enough, so I'm going to let you in on what happened. To put it simply, there was this space demon that took over Gravity Falls and almost broke free, which would have changed this dimension and reality for us as we know it. Luckily, I took care of it, with the help of my niece, nephew, and twin brother.

"A space demon?" Kailey rose a brow, confused. It was hard for her to process information at the time, due to her obvious cold getting worse by the minute. "What did this demon look like?"

"He called himself Bill Cipher. He was literally a floating triangle with one eye."

Kailey's eyes widened, but she was too tired to react properly. Instead she asked another question. "So, he's dead? You killed him?"

"We destroyed him," Stanford responded. "He's as good as gone." Suddenly a beeping sound escaped from the device he was holding, and Stanford quickly shifted the subject. "I think I've located it!" he exclaimed. "But it looks like it's under the lake. We're going to need to go down there ourselves to find it."

_Swimming?_ Kailey thought. Great. But, nonetheless, she couldn't let this get the best of her. She was rather determined to go along with this. She didn't want to let Stanford down. By admitting she was sick was like admitting defeat. "I didn't bring the proper equipment though…" Kailey admitted.

"Don't worry, I brought what we needed. When you are in my line of work you always come prepared." Stanford walked over and reached for the large sack he had brought with him. He managed to pull out two diving suits, the entire getup, and threw one to Kailey. "I'm sure that one will fit you. Go ahead and put it on so we can get going."

Kailey caught the suit, but her reaction was delayed. She looked down at it, examining the shit, but somehow found herself confused. It was made funny, much differently than any scuba suit she had seen before. She shuffled it around to find the neck so she could properly undo the zipper and stick herself inside.

"Are you ready?" Ford asked only after a few minutes. Kailey hadn't even stuck a foot in the suit, let alone sat up to put it on, when she look up.

Stanford was already in the suit, but for some weird ass reason she was hyperly aware of… _his ass._

She immediately shifted her gaze back down to her own suit, her face turning red as she acted like she was undoing the zipper. However, she kept side-eyeing Stanford regardless, and practically against her will. _Since when was Stanford wildly attractive?_

Kailey struggled, but she managed to get the suit on. After pulling it over her shoulders she reached for the zipper, but found Stanford suddenly standing behind her, which caused another blush to consume her face.

"Are you ready yet?" he asked again. "Are you having trouble?"

"No, no… I'm fine," Kailey lied, attempting to keep her eyes looking straightforward as she desperately moved her arms down her back to find the zipper. Suddenly, she felt Stanford 's touch on her back as he found the zipper himself, and zipped it up for her.

"There, you're all set," he said. "Strap the air gauge on your back and let's get going."

Kailey listened to him shuffle through the sack once more, still keeping her back turned to him. He seemed pretty focused on the mission, but what came to a surprise for her was the fact that he suddenly was making small talk.

"You know, you actually remind me of a girl I briefly knew when I was younger. She looked an awful lot like you, now that I think of it."

"Oh, is that so?" Kailey responded, attempting to divert any awkwardness from the tone of her voice.

"I never got to get to know her, actually…" Stanford sighed, sort of with grievance. "But, it wasn't meant to be, I suppose. I never saw her again. If it was meant to be, well, we would have crossed paths again."

He continued shuffling though the sack, but after a few moments, he grumbled to himself.

"Kailey, I must have left something in the car, I'll be right back," he said. And then after a few footsteps, he disappeared, leaving her at the side of the lake.

_Great_. Kailey thought. _This cold is turning me whacko. I'm going to need to keep rebuking this or this cold will be the end of me._

"Kailey! You left me!" Red's voice suddenly appeared out of the blue, causing Kailey to finally turn around. Red was actually here.

"Red, I thought—"

"No need to worry, I took care of Steven. He thought he could out best me, when we both know I'm the one more qualified to help Stanford. Say, what's the scuba suit for?"

"Well, Stanford and I are going to explore the lake for the anomaly…" Kailey admitted. "You guys… well, you seemed busy, to say the least. Stanford also thought you guys were too sick and needed some rest." Suddenly, and uncontrollably after her explanation, Kailey sneezed.

"Looks to me like you're getting sick too," Red pointed out. "But who cares? I might be sick, but I'm not going to pass up a date with Ford."

"What do you mean? He chose me, not you!" Kailey quickly covered her mouth. The secret slipped. But instead of getting a reaction from Red that would have led to her making fun, she instead grew furious, like she had been with Steven.

"You like him too, don't you?" Red spat out. "First the dweeb Steven, and now you?"

_"What?" _Kailey gasped. "You both like him too?"

"Obviously! Now get out of that stupid suit and go home, I'm doing this mission."

"Red, wait!"

"No you wait!" Red yelled. "You're the tall, pretty friend! Give me some slack!"

"Red, I think you're confused… I think I might know what's happening!" Yes, it was certainty coming together now. Both Red and Steven liked Ford? In that way? And now Kailey felt it too. The only possible explanation, let alone lead to any reason behind this, was they were all sick. Kailey's mind flew across different memories to try and gather together what was going on. But she knew one thing. They all had caught some kind of cold, _that made them crush on Ford._

"No you don't, you're just trying to get Ford to like you best!" Red yelled.

"Red, listen, please!"

Before Kailey could get through to Red, she lunged at her, and they both tumbled into the water. Without her mask, let alone the oxygen gauge secured, Kailey instantly had to resort to holding her breath, which was even harder now with a cold. However, the fight wasn't what Kailey was worried about, or the fact that this cold was causing something weird. A bright light was under the water with them, and suddenly, it seemed to swallow them whole.


	3. Stanford: Part 2

**"Stanford: Part 2"**

**Summary: Things were getting weird with the sudden onset of the mysterious cold, but now Red and Kailey are in for a once in a lifetime adventure that will not only determine the course of the future, but their destinies. **

**Written: March, 2016**

* * *

They were submerged, only briefly, and yet within that time moments seemed to slow down, and the surrounding lake water became so bright it was as if headlights were being deliberately shined at them. Perhaps it was the adrenaline powered struggle that had followed them into the lake, or even the sudden realization of each others circumstances. Regardless of what it was, Kailey was trying everything in her power to keep her lungs closed to the surrounding water.

At unexpected moments in her panic, Red would punch her in the sides and arms, causing Kailey's desire to breathe to become unbearable. In a matter of seconds, she would attempt to scream, although quickly and inevitably, water filtered into her mouth. It was this, and this added panic in itself of drowning, which allowed Kailey to push Red off of her, and make her way to the surface.

As soon as her head hit the surface, she gasped in for air, and then once her lungs were full, she yelled out so loudly that a tree full of birds freaked and flew away. Red slowly came after her, arriving at the surface, but unlike Kailey's scream, instead chose to yell a series of accusations.

"YOU TRAITOR!" Red yelled. "YOU SCHEMING TRAITOR!"

Kailey didn't say anything. At least not yet. Instead she used what energy she had to swim ashore, and luckily, made it up to the rocks before her enraged program friend could catch her. Once she made it to both her feet was when Kailey turned around, hands outward in a defensive manner, and attempted to calm the situation.

"Red, calm down, let's talk this out!" Kailey gasped. She had to blink a few times in order to rid a few oncoming water droplets that remained clinging to her eyebrows and lashes.

Red finally made it ashore by the time Kailey finished her plea. "Yeah, let's talk! Talk about how you were trying to go on a date with Ford! First Steven, and then you?!"

"Red, listen, this is important! I know what's going on!"

"Oh yeah, then enlighten me, Kale Plant. You better have a good reason for this or I'll do the same thing to you as I did to Steven!"

"What did you do to Steven— wait; I don't even want to know. Look, I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think this cold is making us… well, it's not really a cold! This can't be coincidence!"

"Oh yeah, really good joke there, Kales, a cold made us all have a crush on Ford."

"No, I'm serious!" A light bulb seemed to go off in Kailey's head. "That vial that you took out of his case and sniffed? You contracted some sort of illness that is also somehow linked to Ford."

"That's dumb."

"It's not dumb! There's like, a billion things we probably don't know about this guy! As far as I've heard he's some sort of supernatural hunter dude that also happens to be incredibly smart and can do who knows what! I've even heard he slayed a demon, for crying out loud!"

"Slayed a demon?" Red chuckled to herself. "Wait— are you serious? Who was the demon, by any chance? Do you know? Oh God…"

"Why would you be worried about that? God! Nevermind! All I know is we're going to have to get help. For some reason this illness is making you crazier than you usually are."

"True that, Kale Plant." Red whipped off the remaining water droplets along her torso, and instantly became dried. As a matter of fact, she never even looked like she was in the water in the first place. It was thanks to her programming, as assumed.

"We need to go find Ford," Kailey said. She gestured for Red to follow her, and then turned around, and began walking back up and around the cluster of trees to get to the car. She kept walking, on and on, until she started to notice she had been walking for far longer than she remembered. She scanned the area around her, looking for any trace of the car, or Ford for that matter, but instead found the small dirt path, alone, and seemingly barren as if it had not been used for quite some time.

As Kailey was attempting to figure everything out, Red suddenly began laughing uncontrollably.

"Hahahahaha! He left you Kale Plant!" Red blasted. "Right out here in the middle of nowhere too!"

Kailey blushed from embarrassment, and placed a hand on her head to attempt to keep herself together. He couldn't have left her, could he? _Maybe he had forgotten something and went on a drive to get it? That had to be it. He wouldn't just leave me._ Kailey thought.

"Just face it, he's long gone," Red repeated, but Kailey turned around finally, this time enraged.

"WOULD YOU JUST SHUT YOUR TINY MOUTH FOR ONCE, NOBODY ASKED YOU, DAMMIT! SHIT!"

"Whoa, Kales, chill," Red said. She slowly began to realize that maybe she had been too harsh with her. But, due to the illness, it was still affecting her mindset even when she held onto a conniving, amused sort of smile. "Look, I'm sorry… I didn't mean… well, to make you feel bad."

"What do you mean, you're apologizing?" Kailey raised a brow.

"Well, for pulling your hair… and punching you in the face. But I'm actually serious now. I think Ford's gone."

Kailey turned around, her face deepening in color, as she glared at the path before her. Without so much as another word, she started walking ahead. Eventually, she found the main road, although instead of seeing the many homes surrounding the lake areas, the place was barren. Instead, there was a large sign, as if to advertise a neighborhood. In fact, it _was _advertising the construction of a new neighborhood.

"What in the flying shits is going on!?" Kailey spat out, her mouth practically hanging open. "There was no sign here before! There were houses here, and an actual road, not a dirt one!"

"Maybe we got out the other side of the lake?" Red asked.

"ARE YOU KIDDING WE'RE ON THE EXACT SIDE OF THE LAKE WE DROVE IN! I RECOGNIZE THAT STUPID ASS ROCK OVER THERE AND EVERYTHING—" Kailey paused, abruptly, only when another realization had come over her. The neighborhood wasn't build, even when it clearly was when she had driven in with Ford. The place wasn't even developed!

Just then, a car began to head their way. Kailey stared at it for a good while as it approached. She had half considered trying to hitchhike, but she noticed Red had that in mind instead.

She didn't think much of Red going out there, waving to get the drivers attention and all, but for some reason, as the car got closer, she took notice of its age, along with the driver's reaction. It was an old red Camero, only it looked brand new, and a couple of teenagers were behind the wheel. But the moment they saw Red, they could be heard screaming inside the car, and sped off past them.

"What's their problem?" Red asked, another animated question mark appearing above her head.

Another realization was dawning on Kailey by then, but she had to make sure. She needed to see proof to make sure she wasn't going mad. Desperately, she started running down the road, without a care that she was still in a diving suit, and looked as if she just came out of her gig from SeaWorld or something, but she didn't care. Red tried scurrying after her.

"Kailey, what's going on!?" Red was starting to get the gist that something was up.

But even then so, Kailey wouldn't stop progressing forward. She had to find the end of the road. It had to be somewhere.

. . . . . . .

Kailey proceeded to ignore Red, all the way up until they made it to a gas station at the end of the dirt road and along the main highway. The sun was already going down by then, and so the gas station seemed bright in comparison to the quiet, underdeveloped part of land. Outside the gas station itself was a newspaper tray, and Kailey grabbed hold of the top paper as quickly as she could once she laid eyes on it.

Opening the paper in a panic, she took notice of the date. Her heart sunk, then leapt, then skipped a beat, and then lept again in attempts to catch up with its own rhythm. Pure terror overcame her.

"1985?!" Kailey gasped in terror. "ARE YOU SHITTING ME, HOW THE HELL? THIS NEWSPAPER SAYS IT'S MARCH 17th 1985!"

"You're lying," Red commented.

"I'M NOT LYING, SEE FOR YOURSELF!" Kailey continued yelling. She practically shoved the newspaper at Red.

Red brought the paper down to her level and eyed it for a moment. Her flat, concentrated look flipped the moment the words settled in her mind.

A sudden out of tune, chord piano sound escaped from her, as a series of animation produced her own reaction shock sequence. Her irises dilated, her mouth dropped—literally everything about her briefly morphed the second she came to the realization they weren't in their actual time. They had somehow time traveled… TO THE PAST.

"Holy shit, oh my fuck…" Red muttered.

Kailey placed her hands into her hair and tugged at the roots. She stared, wide-eyed at the concrete, and then suddenly ran off towards the road, breathing heavily as if to suppress a panic attack.

"How are we going to get home? How did we get here? I don't understand what's going on!" Kailey breathed heavily in between her sporadic sentences.

Red tried staying calm, but in all honesty she was no better off than her friend Kailey. Red met Kailey's panic as her shock emotion animation took over, looping over and over again and filling the silent streets with the same out-of-tune piano smash. It wasn't until something hovering over the road caught Red's eye did she settle down enough to pay attention to her surroundings.

Hovering on the road, was a Celebi. A Pokemon.

Because she saw this, she began to calm down, but only a little. She wasn't just seeing things. There was a Celebi here. Perhaps it used its power like in its game to manipulate time and send them back to the 80s?

"Kailey! Look! I think I found our problem, and solution!" Red slapped Kailey's thigh to get her attention.

Kailey looked to see what Red was talking about, but she didn't have to ask any more questions. She saw the Celebi too, clear as day.

"I'm going to go grab it, and then we should be back home in no time!" Red said. She regretted not having anything to properly catch it with, like a Pokeball, but she had to try.

Red quickly leaped at the floating Celebi, meeting it in the center of the wide country road. Kailey couldn't help but gasp as she saw Red going after it, not only because she was suddenly fighting to catch the Celebi in the middle of the open road, but because she also didn't want Red to run it off.

"Red! Stop!" Kailey gasped, putting both hands to the side of her face. She was starting to take more notice of her oncoming cold, which was making her feel worse the longer she was outside. Perhaps the long walk wasn't the best idea.

"I've got to catch it! That's the only way to go home!" Red claimed. With every jump it felt as if the Celebi was hovering higher and higher above her, basically playing with her.

Suddenly, Kailey took notice of some headlights coming their way. Because of this, Kailey found a new reason to start freaking out.

"Red, you need to get off the road!" Kailey yelled. Yes of course she could very well be hit, but what if these people saw her? This was 1985, not 2016 were programs and humans interacted on a daily basis. She could be instantly shattered by the car, or worse! Taken in! Or a mob could show up in attempts to kill her!

"Red, move!" Kailey yelled.

"Almost…there…" Red huffed, reaching as hard as she could in between her jumps to try and get a hold of the Pokemon. It was no use though. And she was running out of time.

Out of desperation Kailey made a final decision. She had to help Red.

Kailey rushed forward, with the car lights shining heavily on her now, and pushed Red out of the way. The Celebi could be seen flying up and back towards the direction of the lake, and in that moment Red flew from the highway and to the other side of the road.

A loud scratch of tires breaking on the concrete echoed violently into the night, slowing the car down significantly, but not quite enough to completely stop it. Kailey didn't have enough time to react. The last thing she remembered was the car hitting her, and sending her landing on her sides.

. . . . . . .

_I'm dead._ Kailey thought. She could feel her legs and her arms—her entire body was_ feelable _for that matter, but for the most part she would have rather not. The arm she had landed on felt incredibly sore, and along with her already stuffed up sinuses from the cold, her head felt like a balloon from obviously hitting the road.

"Ughhh…" she finally groaned. Her eyes slowly opened, and along with her awakening, the feelings in her arm only became worse. She eventually became aware that she was in a dim lit room, on a bed and under the covers.

She looked around. There was a lamp, a door to the left, a couple of hand drawn pictures taped to the walls, bearing upon them a mixture of complex equations and pictures of different triangles. But the thing that put this room off the most was someone was sitting at the left side of the bed, watching her.

"Jesus Christ!" Kailey yelled, sitting up immediately out of fear. The moment she did so was when her arm tensed up in pain. The cover ever so slightly slipped from her shoulders, showing that her arm had been cleaned and bandaged. But most unnerving was the fact that she was in her underwear.

"OH MY GOD WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL?!" she hollered again, but this time the stranger at her side sat up, coming closer to her and placed a hand on her back. The other hand lay gently on top of the covers just above her stomach. Kailey didn't see him quite yet, but she could see the hand clearly on the covers on top of her. Whoever this guy was... had six fingers?

"Hey, everything's all right… You were hit by a car, but you haven't sustained any significant damage. Your arm may bruise but you're pretty lucky. You should be fine soon enough."

The voice sounded incredibly familiar. Kailey had to blink a few times to try and get a glimpse of who this person was, but luckily he was kind enough to turn on another lamp, which reveled him.

Although young, perhaps only a few years older than herself, she saw none other than Stanford. _The_ Stanford Pines. The one she literally just saw earlier back in her current time.

She panicked internally. Suddenly she started to realize how dangerous this could possibly be. She played_ Life Is Strange_. She's seen _Back to the Future_. By speaking with Stanford she could potentially hurt the future. For all she knew she could have already done that by being hit by his car!

"Oh my God…" Kailey muttered. That was all that she could say in that moment. She knew she had to play this off though. Staring at him like this wasn't going to help. He just looked… so _young_. The Stanford she knew from 2016 was here, and it was him, obviously. But looking at him like this was so bizarre. His glasses weren't yet cracked, his hair and eyebrows were still brown…

"Are you feeling all right?" Stanford asked, continuing to stare at Kailey, both with concern and slight… what was a word that can possibly be used here… admiration? "What were you doing out there? It looked like you just came from the lake? In your condition I would say that wasn't such a wise idea."

Kailey was a pretty good liar on the spot, but now she had to take into consideration what she was actually going to say. Should she lie? If she lied, she could avoid potentially ruining the future. If she told the truth, maybe he could help her get home. Ultimately she picked somewhere in the middle. A half-truth.

"Yes, I was scuba diving in the lake," Kailey admitted. "I was looking for… a creature. I know you may think this is silly, but it was some sort of… alien that controls time."

"I don't think you're silly at all!" Stanford finally smiled. His smile was so… warming, to say the least. Kailey felt herself sigh a little, a soft grin forming as a result. "As a-matter-of-fact, that's one reason why I'm in this city. I've received some readings of strange phenomenon happening around the lake area within the last few days."

Sounds like Stanford all right, already sticking his nose in things that should probably be left alone. But Kailey didn't care. She was just glad she found someone who could help.

"Look, I need your help with something…" Kailey spoke out loud. "But, it's going to be hard to explain."

"You don't need to worry about that," Stanford said. But he seemed to draw in a little closer. "You don't look like you should be doing anything anytime soon. With that damp suit on and everything it looks as if it'll take you forever to get over whatever gunk you have." Without warning Stanford removed his hand from atop of the sheets and placed it on Kailey's forehead. It was rather obvious by then that Kailey had a fever, but the blush on top of that as a result of Stanford touching her didn't help.

"I'll… I'll be okay, I think," Kailey tried to say.

"No, you're not. Not yet. You need to take it easy," Ford responded. "Can I get you anything? Some water? Maybe some medicine?"

"No, really, I'll be okay," Kailey tried lifting her arms up to gesture her feelings, but instead she triggered her arm to shoot with pain again. She gasp, and out of nature, her other hand flew over to grab the pained limb. After the sudden gasp, she sneezed, which in all regards didn't prove her case of being all right.

"I'm going to bring you some things to help with that cold." He sat up, and disappeared out of the room and out the door. For once, this left Kailey some alone time to panic again.

"Oh God…" Kailey said quietly to herself. "How am I going to get out of here? And this situation? Jeez, this is so awkward."

A sudden knock on the window caused her to turn her head and lift the covers over herself. But instead of seeing another stranger, she instead saw Red, glaring at her from behind the glass.

"What the hell?!" Red said, her voice muffled from the glass.

Kailey looked around a few times, and then once she felt the coast was clear, she sat up and ran to the window, opening it for Red despite her soar arm to talk to her through.

"Red, I'm so glad you're alive!" Kailey said happily, although still taking into consideration the volume of her voice.

"I know exactly what you're doing…" Red glared. "But quite frankly I don't care anymore. That cold is starting to go away and I'm feeling like myself again."

"That's great you're feeling better," Kailey responded, but noticed the red flag in Red's voice from the prior comment. "But… what do you mean? What am I doing?"

"You're in your freaking bra and panties for crying out loud!" Red spat out. "What, couldn't stay away from Ford that you had to bed up with him in the past?! Better watch out or you'll be your own grandmother, or mom, or something."

Kailey covered herself, blushing furiously. "I didn't sleep with him you fucking ass stain! I just saved your freaking ass back there!"

"Okay, yeah, you may not have shacked up with Ford but I know you like this," Red stated.

"I DO NOT!" Kailey's voice grew loud, and so she suddenly covered her mouth. At that moment she heard footsteps coming back, and quickly and without saying another word, she shut the window, rushed back to jump into the bed, and covered herself again. "We'll figure this out once he leaves," Kailey muttered over, but the second her sentence came to an end, Ford walked back into the room.

Red quickly ducked under the window, but once she felt the coast was pretty clear she peaked back over.

Ford had a bowl of soup in his hand, and a glass of water in another, along with his pinky finger grasping onto a small bottle of cold medicine in addition. He sat down the bowl of soup first on the counter, and then handed Kailey the glass of water. With his hands free he pulled out a pill from the medicine bottle.

"This is some decongestant," Ford started to explain. "You should take this. It will make you feel much better."

Kailey didn't know what to say. She could use the help, and she was positive Ford wasn't a bad guy, so she took the medicine. After that, Ford held the soup bowl up to her.

"I'm sure you haven't eaten in a while. I made this for you." He smiled again, softly, which only made the situation worse for Kailey.

_He's so adorable._ Kailey thought. _Damn this cold! This is compromising everything! I gotta act like a Jedi and not let my emotions get the best of me._

Honestly, when she thought about it, she would very well be satisfied staying with Ford like this until her cold blew over. This had to be the best thing in the last few weeks that had happened to her.

But it got better.

"I don't think you should lift your arm right now," Ford said. "Here, I'll give you the soup myself."

On the other side of the window Red started to withhold her laughter. She wanted to outright tease Kailey, but she knew better. She had to stay quiet. So instead, she sat back down onto the grass behind the bushes, and waited.

_And waited… and waited…._

A least a few hours had passed by then. In that time, she could hear them talking, and laughing. She was about ready to get up and scream at her friend through the window, but before she could do so, a strange laughter overcame her ears. This made her look around in a panic.

"W-who the—" Red stuttered, but before she could question the situation none other than Bill Cipher appeared before her from under the bushes. She was shocked, to say the least.

"WELL, WELL, WELL, WHY ISN'T IT RED, MY GOOD OL' FAIRY TALE. THIS IS PRETTY INTERESTING. THERE WAS ONE OUT OF A 1.54 MILLION OF A CHANCE I'D SEE YOU HERE RIGHT NOW. I SHOULDN'T BE MEETING YOU UNTIL A FEW MOE DECADES, BUT LOOK HOW THINGS GO AM I RIGHT!" Bill inquired.

"Bill? How?!" Red's eyes shot open, her mouth hanging open as well.

"I'M SURE YOU ALREADY KNOW BY NOW THAT I'M NOT A PROGRAM. I'VE BEEN AROUND FOR A REALLY LONG TIME. AND I SUPPOSE YOU WOULD HAVE FOUND OUT SOONER OR LATER, BUT OL' SIXTER HERE KNOWS ME."

"He knows you?" Red asked.

"OF COURSE HE DOES! I'M GUESSING YOU'RE FRIEND KAILEY HASN'T TOLD YOU YET. SEE, FORD AND I GO ALL THE WAY BACK. I EVEN REMEMBER THE DAY THAT GEEK MADE A COLD VIRUS THAT WOULD MAKE PEOPLE FALL IN LOVE WITH HIM. NERDS ALWAYS DO STUFF TO PROVE BULLIES WRONG. BUT ANYWAY, I'M GETTING OFF POINT. IN A HIGH QUANTITY OF ALL THE POSSIBLE FUTURES, HE ALWAYS ENDS UP KILLING ME… EXCEPT FOR THIS ONE."

"What?"

"LET ME EXPLAIN IT IN TERMS YOU CAN UNDERSTAND. IN THIS TIMELINE, THIS REALITY, WHERE YOU DIED AND BECAME A PROGRAM BECAUSE OF KAILEY AND STEVEN, STANFORD THERE THINKS IN 2016 HE'S DESTROYED ME. I MEAN, WITH THE HELP OF HIS TWIN BROTHER ANYONE WOULD THINK SO. I GET TRICKED, GO INTO STANLEY'S MIND, FORD USES THE MEMORY GUN TO DESTROY ME AND HIS BROTHER'S MEMORY WITH IT. POINT IS, YOU EXIST IN THIS REALITY, AND SO DOES YOUR FRIEND KAILEY. THERE ARE AN INFINITE AMOUNT OF PARALLEL UNIVERSES, BUT THIS ONE ACTS JUST SO TO WHERE NOT ONLY DO I SURVIVE, BUT I COME BACK WITH VENGEANCE. AND IT'S THANKS TO YOU, MY SWEET LITTLE RED."

"I knew it!" Red smiled. "I'm so glad you're still around. But I knew it. You're not a program!"

"YOU GOT THAT RIGHT. I'M MORE THAN A PROGRAM. I'M AN ALL POWERFUL BEING FROM ANOTHER DIMENSION. AND BECAUSE OF YOU, I HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE!"

Red was ecstatic. But why? The last time Red and Bill hung around each other was that date, and he wrecked it. He even tried hurting Kailey. But… he really seemed like a genuine guy. By Red's standards, he was literally the kind of guy she dreamed of. Funny, punny, intelligent… and now all knowing? This was too good to be true.

"I'LL TALK TO YOU GUYS AGAIN IN ABOUT 4 MINUTES," Bill ended, and suddenly disappeared. She took notice of the color tone of the world around her, which had been unbeknownst to her, grey.

"You should probably get some rest." Ford's voice could be heard from inside the window. Red peaked back over to see Ford stand up from Kailey's bedside, and then walk out the door on the other side of the room. Red knew that it was time to react and get out while they had the chance.

Opening the window, Red crawled into the room. She took notice of Kailey on the verge of falling asleep, comfortable by all means in her situation.

"Wake up, Kales!" Red muttered loudly directly into her ear. This caused Kailey's eyes to quickly shoot open. "Kailey, Fordsy is gone, we should go."

"But, it's dark outside…" Kailey tried coming up with an excuse, but for once Red was determined to get home.

"I don't care if you still have a cold crush on Ford, we need to leave!" She crawled onto the bed and started pushing Kailey off. It was just before she was on the edge of the bed before Kailey sat up on her own.

"Fine! Jeez, you gotta ruin everything, don't you?" Kailey huffed a little. As she stood up she sneezed again, placing a hand on the side of her face. "This cold isn't going away right now. But you're right. We need to get home."

"Here, let's try and find the front door to this place," Red offered, taking into consideration how Kailey would feel crawling out the window. The two walked over to the only door in the room, and cracked it open.

Usually in a house you would expect to see a living room, or a kitchen, or something normal like that. But no. Instead of a regular living room, candles were spread out along the floor. There were also many large images of Bill Cipher.

"What the hell is this guy like a Satanist or something?" Kailey said, concern again replacing what relaxation she had before.

"No… that's not what this is," Red started to explain. "Kales, do you remember that triangle guy I took on a date a few years ago?"

"Yes…"

"His name is Bill. He had ties with Ford in the past."

"How would you know!?"

"Bill told me. And Ford thinks he's dead in the future. Ford thought he killed him."

"What!?" Kailey's eyes were getting wider and wider with every statement. Everything Red was telling her was just confirming what she thought about Bill. He wasn't a program at all! Her suspicions— all that happened on that night three years ago— it all made sense.

"Red, we need to get out of here, now…" Kailey said. She didn't really know what kind of "ties" Bill had with Ford, but it couldn't be good. But her desire to leave was also clashed with the fact that that Ford was very much in danger. But if she warned him, she could mess with time and reality as they knew it.

Before either of them could make a decision to run for it, Ford came from around the corner. Kailey and Red had even half expected to confront Ford directly and have to explain what was going on, and who Red was, but that wasn't necessary.

"HA! WELL THIS CERTAINLY IS A SIMILAR SITUATION, ISN'T IT?" Bill's voice escaped from Ford's mouth. It was obvious to both Red and Kailey what was going on. Bill was using Ford just like Bill had possessed Red three years ago (in their regular time).

"Screw this shit!" Kailey yelled, and ran back into the bedroom. Red rushed after, the two suddenly coming to a new set of problems. They were going to have to find the lake all alone.

"We have to crawl out the window!" Kailey said. "It's the only way out of the house!"

"But… Bill is here…" Red spoke up, in a sort of airy, conflicted manner. Kailey was starting to stick one leg out of the window, but before she could get out, Ford (or Bord, honestly) came into the room.

"WHAT'S WRONG, LADIES, YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE FUN AGAIN?" Bill laughed manically. He seemed to move quickly, however. He grabbed Red, who had been closer to the door at the time, and held her harshly against the wall. Kailey could only stare wide eyed, her internal turmoil attempting to decide whether or not it would be a safe thing to attack him or not in order to save her friend.

Kailey pulled her leg from the window and managed to get her bravery in order. In the meantime, Bill was continuously taunting Red.

"WHY DO YOU ALWAYS FOLLOW YOUR FRIEND AROUND? YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER. FAIRY TALE, IT'S DESTINY YOU AND I WILL BE TOGETHER. RUNNING AWAY FROM IT ON ACCOUNT OF KALE PLANT ISN'T GOING TO CHANGE THAT."

Red was speechless, in all honesty. She loved her friend Kailey, but at the same time she couldn't deny the fact that something was rather odd in terms of her and Bill's relationship. They met twice already. First in the future, and here in the past. It was as if they were soul mates…

"B-bill… I don't know what to say…" Red stuttered.

"HOW ABOUT I JUST MAKE THE DECISION FOR THE BOTH OF US, SINCE I KNOW EVERY POSSIBLE FUTURE IN THIS UNIVERSE ANYWAY," Bill explained. Without prior warning, however, he grabbed hold of Red's face, lifting her up solely by the head, and kissed her harshly.

Kailey watched in horror as Bill kissed her, ultimately throwing her to the ground seconds later. Bill would start laughing the instant she hit the ground.

"Red, we need to leave!" Kailey pleaded. She noticed Red was still shaken by what had happened. In response, Kailey made the decision to help. She didn't know if Bill was going to do something like this again anyway, so she had to step up.

Kailey ran towards Bill, and as hard as she could, punched him in the jaw, which caused him to fly backwards and hit the lamp, putting out the light. It seemed it had knocked Bill out of Ford, but luckily, Ford himself was also unconscious too. This would give them enough time to get out of the house.

"Red, let's go!" Kailey said. She held onto her fist for a moment, realizing her knuckles were turning red from the punch. She grabbed her friend despite this, and the two bolted out the window and into the night.

. . . . . . .

It had to be almost 3:00AM by the time Kailey and Red had traveled far enough into town to settle down. As an attempt to blend in (and get un-naked for that matter) Kailey dug through a donation box next to a closed convenient store. She managed to pull out a pink 80s jacket and pair of skinny jeans, as well as some white pumped up type kicks for shoes. She immediately put on the clothes and clamped the jacket shut, and then reached inside a second time to pull out a small black hoodie, which she threw to Red.

"Here, put this on," Kailey stated. "You're going to need to cover yourself up. You don't want anyone else seeing you."

"Why do I have to cover myself up?" Red looked down at the hoodie for a moment.

"You're a program, remember? People here aren't going to understand that," Kailey explained. "Just put it on. I'll pretend you're my sister or something."

"Fine," Red huffed, putting the jacket over her and slipped the hood over her head. "But I sure hope we can find our way to the lake… I don't think we're going to be getting much help this late at night. Maybe we should go to the cops?"

"Are you joking, we can't go to anybody," Kailey said. She had tidied herself up just enough and puffed up her hair to attempt the 80s look, but it was hard due to the fact she didn't have a mirror or any clips to use. "We can't talk to anybody else, do you understand? I don't want to screw up the future."

"Maybe this was _meant_ to happen…" Red thought out loud. "I mean… if this _wasn't_ meant to happen we wouldn't be here in the first place? I'm starting to think that whole butterfly effect is actually a load of bull."

"Why do you say that?" Kailey asked.

"Well… you heard Bill. He said us meeting like this… _me _meeting him again like this, was basically destiny."

"You're not going to believe that freak, are you?" Kailey seemed to grow defensive. "He's a—I don't even know what he is. A demon of some sort. We need to get back to our real time, and tell Steven and Ford about this."

"Kales, you can't deny this fact. This wasn't an accident or freak of nature. Us being here was meant to happen."

"Whatever you say…" Kailey huffed a little, and then took the time to look around. "I don't know how we're going to get back to the lake from here. We're going to need to find a map, and a car for that matter."

"We could always steal one," Red added. "And maybe there's a map in that convenience store right there."

"We're not stealing shit!" Kailey claimed irritably. "Maybe us stealing crap or whatever won't cause some butterfly effect, but it's still stealing."

"You're too nice, you know that?"

"I'm just moral, unlike you. You play too much Grand Theft."

"Maybe you should play _more _GTA."

Kailey facepalmed herself. "Fine, we can go into the convenient store and try to find a map. I just hope there isn't any security in there."

"I can handle this…" Red said. She started walking towards the convenient store, but even despite her confidence, Kailey still was worried. "Look, there's a window right there, push me up there and I'll get in that way."

"Red, I'm not so sure about this…"

"Just do it Kale Plant!"

"Fine!"

Kailey did her best to lift her friend upwards. Despite her apparent cold she felt it was starting to clear up quite a bit. It was probably the decongestant Ford had given her, but hopefully it would be gone entirely by the time this was all over. She still couldn't help but think if she had done wrong by punching Ford in the face, but she also had to realize that it wasn't Ford she was meaning to punch, but Bill.

Red had been inside for a while, without triggering any sort of alarm. She could hear her shuffling around the store, but so far nothing was happening.

"Kailey…" Red whispered. "I found the map. The lakes are literally just a forty-minute drive north, and then take an exit sometime past Humble.

"Thank God," Kailey sighed.

"But, there's another problem. How the hell am I supposed to get out of here!?"

"What do you mean?" Kailey fussed. "Just crawl out!"

"I'm too short to reach the window. I'm gonna have to break the front door."

"Don't do it!"

Suddenly, the sound of shattering glass echoed into the lot, causing Kailey to further freak out. She rushed to the front to meet Red, who walked out of the store as if it was no big deal. "Taken care of," Red stated, swiping her hands together calmly.

"Are you crazy, you could have alerted the authorities!"

"I didn't hear an alarm go off, did you?"

Before either of them could finish their arguments, a set of headlights appeared from behind them in front of the store's entrance. Kailey immediately seized up, knowing how likely it was that a damned cop had caught them in the act. She turned around and raised her hands in the air out of fear, but Red instead chose to continue to keep cool.

There was no call of arrest, or to 'put your hands up' like Kailey was already doing. As the two girls focused on the car, and the headlights became less blinding, they noticed it was Ford's car. In a matter of seconds, he would step out, and walk up towards them.

"You two!" He called, but it wasn't out of anger or suspicion, but pure worry. "Please, come back! I don't know what happened exactly but I have a good idea what. I want you to know that wasn't me." He seemed to be talking directly to Kailey.

"We know it wasn't you," Red answered, again, calmly. It was only when she talked that Ford noticed her.

"Who is this?" He asked Kailey again.

"It's ummm…" she had to pause to think, but ultimately came up with another bullshit lie. "My sister! Yeah, she's my sister."

"Why is she wearing a hoodie? Did you two just steal from the store?"

"No! No, the glass was like this when we got here!" Kailey continued to lie. "She's uhhh… actually horrifically deformed. Yeah. She covers herself when she goes out." Before Kailey could talk anymore Red punched her in the crotch, causing her to topple over for a second. Ford remained standing there briefly, but then walked further up to them.

"I'm not here to hurt you! Please tell me who you are!" Ford pleaded, but Kailey wasn't having any of it. She didn't even have to speak to Red to come up with a silent plan with her.

"I'm sorry," was all that Kailey said, before Kailey and Red gathered themselves together, and charged at Ford. Red punched his knees, causing him to topple over, while Kailey jumped into his car. The two of them got in so fast that Ford didn't have enough time to stop them. They both drove off, stealing his car.

The tires screeched against the concrete as Kailey stepped on the gas. There was no turning back now. They had to go home.

"Good job, Kale Plant!" Red clapped her hands together happily. "You officially stole your first car. You'd actually make a really good GTA player."

"I don't want to celebrate something like this," Kailey admitted. They started rather quickly on the main highway, and it was literally a single long stretch from there.

"Don't tell me you're actually sad about stealing a car? We had to in order to get home. Or is it more than that?" She gasped a little. "You're sorry for stealing it because it's Ford's!"

Kailey kept her eyes glued to the road, which was quiet and barren; not so much as a single other car was driving along with her. "It's just a cold," Kailey said. "It messed up my brain chemistry."

"Yeah, you're right," Red responded. "I've been over that geek for the last few hours. The cold seemed to blow over kinda fast though. You're already looking a lot better too, you know."

A few more silent miles were driven until another car actually showed up. It was coming up behind them, but for the time being, Kailey didn't care. She couldn't help but feel _bad_ for what she did. And Red was right, in all honesty. The cold was going downhill… so shouldn't Kailey start to feel better right now? The second Red seemed to get better she instantly snapped out of it. It was insane.

The other cars headlights came up behind them soon. Even on the slower lanes in which she was driving, the person didn't attempt to pass. It was after a few moments of this awkwardly close driving that Kailey decided to try and see who it was. It wasn't a cop, so that didn't cause any alarms.

"What's this assholes problem?" Kailey said tiredly. Red turned around to look, noticing the car, but having a hard time focusing on the driver. It took Red a couple more seconds for her eyes to adjust enough to see who it was.

"It's Ford…" Red rolled her eyes, seemingly without care. "Looks like he stole another car to come after us."

"What!?" Kailey screeched.

"He's probably mad we stole his car or is sticking his nose into things he shouldn't."

"You make that sounds so normal!?"

"It's not Bill, I can tell you that much. It's just Ford."

"Good lord!" Kailey stepped on the gas.

"Hey, now's your time to show me more of your hella GTA skills," Red remarked then.

Kailey had no idea why Red was so calm. Perhaps it had something to do with her having talked with Bill before? Regardless, she just kept pumping the gas and accelerating faster and faster. It didn't' matter though. Ford was still behind them, and eventually, he attempted to drive up to the driver's side of the car to further get Kailey's attention.

"You!" Ford yelled, although his exclamation a tad hard to hear due to the wind. "Please, we need to talk!"

"He obviously knows something's up," Red added. "But it's your choice, Kales. I mean, you can keep running or you can stop and tell him what's up."

"Red, good God, do you hear yourself!? Why are you so calm about everything!? What did that Bill guy say to you!?"

"That pretty much everything happens for a reason? That there's no butterfly effect or bull, because this was meant to happen?"

"That can't be right! This is insane!" Kailey sped up more, and soon enough, her turn towards the lakes was coming up. She only braked a little and then turned off of the highway, and once she found the dirt road she turned one more time to get to the lakes. Ford was maybe a good five seconds behind her, so they'd have to do this quickly.

"That Celebi has got to be here," Kailey pointed out. She could see a light shining from the lake, so it was obvious the Celebi was at it again. She pushed on the breaks close to the rocks edge, parked and hauled ass out of the vehicle towards the cliffside. Red came rushing after her, and just behind them was Ford.

"Wait!" Ford continued to call.

Red didn't hesitate. "Smell ya in 2016, Kales!" she said, and so bravely jumped off the ledge and into the water, where a giant white orb portal of light was dormant just above the water and below the cliff. Celebi could be seen high above it.

"Please, you gotta wait!" Ford cried out once more. Kailey felt guilt eating at her again by this time.

"What do you want? You don't even know me!" Kailey yelled back, hesitating at the cliffs edge and turned from the time portal below to look back at Ford. "Look, I'm sorry I stole your car, and punched you in the face, but I need to go."

"Where?!"

"Home!"

Ford paused. He seemed perplexed, yet in awe. His mouth was slightly opened, as his eyes stared wide and intently on Kailey, taking into consideration what she was about to do, and who she was.

"What's your name?" He asked. It seemed that was all he_ could_ ask.

Kailey wanted to respond. Truly and honestly. But she still had that worry in the back of her mind. If she told him, would that really ruin the future?

"I can't say…" she responded, reluctantly. "I-I have to go now!"

"I don't know where you're going or where you're from… but…" he seemed confused with himself. Anxious, perhaps. "Can you tell me this at least? Will you be back? Will I ever see you again? How will I find you?"

Kailey sighed deeply, looking back at the portal below and realizing that with every moment she waited could potentially be the moment she could never get back. She turned one last time to look at Ford before she made her decision.

"If it's meant to be, we will," she said.

In an instant she turned around and lept off the edge after her friend. The bright portal devoured her before she could even touch the water, and once the world around her vanished into this light, it died off just as quickly.

. . . . . . .

_"Kailey?"_

She didn't even realize the change had happened so fast. She seemed to wake up, as if awakening from sleep to see Stanford, the 2016 Stanford, and Red looking down at her. After a few moments of blinking, and realizing she could breathe, Kailey sat up.

"Is everything okay?" Kailey asked. She couldn't help it. By looking around at the lake everything seemed the way it was. How it was supposed to be.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Kales," Red answered. "You kinda scared me for a moment. When I didn't see you come out of the portal with me I freaked! Luckily Fordsy was here to help ya."

"Stanford?" Kailey asked with a sigh. Yes, everything seemed to be normal. What a relief.

"Red tried telling me what happened to you two and that you discovered the anomaly we were looking for," Ford explained. "Now that we know that a Celebi Pokemon program was causing the mischief we can properly handle the situation."

"That's right, and guess what, I'm coming back with Steven to catch it," Red exclaimed. "Should probably head back and get him out of that closet I locked him in. And get some Pokeballs, and some actual Pokemon to use to battle the Celebi. Dolly and Trickster should be able to help no problem, and I'm sure Steven's Jigglypuff could use some action."

"Heh, right," Kailey chuckled and put a hand on her cheek. As she watched Red run off over the hill, perhaps back to the car, she felt that her fever was gone. There was no runny nose or desire to cough either. She could very well ask Ford about this, but it honestly didn't matter anymore.

"You know, I couldn't believe it before but… seeing you come out of that portal with this getup on…" Ford started, although he found himself pausing as if he was at a loss of words. "Do you by any chance… remember being hit by a car while you were in that portal?"

Kailey's eyes shot wide open, and her heart skipped again. This time not out of fear, but because of what he said. She felt her face turn red from a blush. "Actually… yeah. You hit me with the car," she responded.

Before Kailey could speak any longer Ford brought her into a gigantic, warm and loving hug. It was so out of the blue that Kailey practically lost her breath.

"I've seen a lot of amazing things happen in my life, but this is magnificent!" Ford said. He pulled Kailey out of the hug afterwards. "I cannot tell you how long I spent at that lake after you were gone. The time portal disappeared right after you jumped."

"I would have told you but, I didn't want to screw things up," Kailey admitted.

"You don't have to worry about that." Stanford chuckled. "When that Celebi made that rift in time it caused it _become_ part of this reality. It happened before you even got here, after you got here, for infinity! An example I can say would be that diving suit. It's been in an eternal loop, finding you and then finding me for… who knows how long!"

"Whoa…" Kailey muttered. "That's amazing."

"Right?!" Ford was a little too excited. But he was a nerd, so it was excusable. "But you know what I think is most interesting?"

"Huh?"

"Well, not to sound sappy or anything, but… how we found each other again."

Kailey felt another blush come over her face. Red had literally just argued before how destiny seems to lock onto two people as if they were meant to be, and always meet up regardless of how weird the situation.

The cold was gone. But Kailey still felt good when she was by Ford.

"We have a lot of catching up to do, don't you think?" Ford asked, smiling softly. "Maybe after we get things settled with this program, I could take you to get coffee, or ice cream? Whatever you like! I want to discuss what's been going on. There's just… so many things I want to tell you."

"To be honest, ice cream sounds great." Kailey smiled.

Everything was seemingly falling into place, and although she couldn't see it, or understand it really, perhaps it really was… destiny.


End file.
